City cruise as Chelsea stumble

SLICKER CITY:Manchester City opened up a five-point cushion over Tottenham with a 4-0 victory over Newcastle after their neighbors United edged closer to a 20th title

AFP, LONDON

Sunderland’s Titus Bramble, third right, deflects a shot by Manchester United’s Robin van Persie, second right, into his own goal in their Premier League match in Sunderland, England, on Saturday.

Photo: Reuters

Manchester City pounced on a stumble from Chelsea to tighten their grip on second place in the Premier League on Saturday, after Manchester United took another stride toward the title.

United’s 1-0 win at Sunderland had given them an 18-point lead, but City cut their advantage back to 15 points ahead of the forthcoming Manchester derby by crushing Newcastle United 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

Carlos Tevez slid in to convert Gael Clichy’s cross in the 41st minute and David Silva made it 2-0 before halftime when he collected Samir Nasri’s pass and rifled a shot into the bottom-right corner.

Making his first appearance in two months, City captain Vincent Kompany added a third in the 56th minute with a flick from Gareth Barry’s low shot and an own-goal by James Perch made Newcastle’s misery complete.

“Samir Nasri played very well and if we play like this, we won’t have a problem in the last couple of months of the season,” City manager Roberto Mancini said. “It’s important to get second place and to win the FA Cup semi-final next week.”

City now have a five-point cushion in second place after Chelsea saw their hopes of UEFA Champions League qualification compromised in a 2-1 loss at Southampton.

Chelsea captain John Terry equalized in the 33rd minute, heading in from a corner, but Rickie Lambert restored the hosts’ lead two minutes later when he swept home a superb long-range free-kick.

“We are really disappointed,” Chelsea interim coach Rafael Benitez said. “We were giving the ball away too easily. The players playing today were playing to be in the Champions League next season.”

Southampton have now beaten City, Liverpool and Chelsea at home this year, and Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were the chief beneficiaries of their latest success.

Spurs won 2-1 at Swansea City to leapfrog Chelsea into third place, although they have played a game more.

Jan Vertonghen’s classy finish put Tottenham ahead in the 17th minute and the Belgian then teed up man-of-the-moment Gareth Bale to beat Michel Vorm with a vicious strike from outside the area.

Michu replied with a 71st-minute header, but Spurs held on.

Fifth-placed Arsenal closed to within just two points of Chelsea after a 4-1 win at home to Reading, who sank to the foot of the table in new manager Nigel Adkins’ first game in charge.

Goals from Gervinho, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud saw Arsenal construct a 3-0 lead inside 67 minutes, with Mikel Arteta adding a fourth from the penalty spot after Hal Robson-Kanu had hit back for the visitors.

Everton also took advantage of Chelsea’s slipup with a 1-0 win at home to Stoke City that left David Moyes’ side four points below the top four in sixth.

Kevin Mirallas settled the game with a fine solo effort in the 28th minute, surging forward from the halfway line and wrong-footing Geoff Cameron, before sliding the ball past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.

Earlier, Manchester United took a step closer to a 20th English league title by grinding out a 1-0 win at Sunderland.

With an FA Cup quarter-final replay at Chelsea today, United manager Alex Ferguson rested Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney, then saw his side score the game’s only goal in the 27th minute when Titus Bramble diverted Robin van Persie’s drilled shot into his own goal.